Guest Post: Grandad and the Machine

My name’s Jack, and I like art. I like the way it transforms places and situations. I like the way it makes people think about life and the universe in new ways. I like the way it forms an outlet for emotions that you otherwise might not feel or even know existed. I like the way it can bring the sublime into the everyday and vice versa.

From 2011-12 I studied Arts Administration at Goldsmiths. Spreadsheets, funding applications, that sort of stuff. All the time I was still making and performing theatre and spoken word shows, but between interning and studying I didn’t really have time to make much progress with it. Then a decent full-time management job came up in my hometown, so I started that before my final hand-in date had even passed, and stayed there for two years. Then I moved to Yorkshire with my partner and got a marketing job in another theatre. Then I got fired.

The experience hit me for six, as getting fired does. Then it made me think about what I really wanted to do with my life. What I decided was that I wanted to dedicate myself full-time to writing and performing work, at least for a couple of years. What’s the worst that could happen?

That was a year and a half ago. In between then and now, besides a few other things, I made a show called Grandad And The Machine. It’s about Capitalism, the North Atlantic and the things that might have been. I’m performing it at Camden People’s Theatre next Wednesday and Thursday (14th & 15th October) at 9pm. It’s got good reviews and great audience feedback, but that’s not why I’m asking you to go. I’m asking you because I need to affirm that a life given to art is not a life wasted.

Goldsmiths showed me how the arts industry works and gave me the skills to manoeuvre in it that I still use today. But I ended up doing something slightly different. So if, like me, you’ve come out of university and taken the road less travelled. I’d love to meet you and I’d love your support. Oh, and you can get an exclusive discount if you use the code “grandad” when booking online.